Lessons
by Uphill Both Ways
Summary: Some lessons are better learned the hard way. Shizuo/Izaya Oneshot.


The breeze blew by softly, ruffling Shizuo's hair as he sat on the park bench. A woman brandishing a helmet and black leather riding outfit was seated next to him, and was typing furiously on her PDA while he watched with calm eyes. Celty finished her message, and Shizuo was about to respond before something small and sharp collided with his forehead. Irritated, Shizuo whipped his attention away from the woman's message as the pebble fell to the ground and none other than Izaya was standing smugly against a nearby tree.

"Yo, Shizu-chan, Black Rider," He greeted casually, tossing another small rock up in his hand and catching it with a flourish. Shizuo narrowed his eyes at the brunette, "Better get out of my sight before I kick your ass, _flea_." Shizuo challenged, gripping the edge of the bench in frustration. Celty shook her head at the scene, while Izaya refused to move, merely tossing another pebble at Shizuo and dancing away as Shizuo rose from his seat and sent a trash can flying at him. She had just been in the middle of telling Shizuo about a fight she had with Shinra before they were interrupted, and she never liked their violence.

"Ohh, Shizu-chan, you really should have gone into baseball with a great arm like that~" Izaya laughed as a _tree_ brushed by his head. "And _you_ really should've stayed home today," Shizuo threatened, managing to catch Izaya by the shirt and lift him off the ground with it. "IIIIZAYAAAA," the name ripped from the bond's throat as he swung his arm back in preparation to throw the obnoxious vermin far away, Izaya latched his hands onto Shizuo's arm as the man released his shirt, causing them both to tumble forwards and onto the ground.

Izaya leapt up from the ground immediately, hopping onto Shizuo's back as the other moved to rise. "Mm-mm, Shizu-chan shouldn't be so rash, don't you think, Courier?" Izaya taunted, asking Celty though the question was aimed at Shizuo, who flipped around and knocked Izaya off of him, standing up himself and grabbing Izaya's arms as the brunette tripped. "I think _Celty_ would agree that you should stop being an obnoxious flea, Izaya-_kun_," The blond growled, his grip on Izaya's arms becoming more forceful. Izaya leaned closer to Shizuo, a malice-filled smirk on his features and annoyed eyes glared into Shizuo's, "I think that _she_ knows that if you weren't so _stupid_, you wouldn't find everything so _annoying_."

A strained smile that looked more like a grimace twitched on Shizuo's face, hands shaking with suppressed anger and violence, gripping hard enough to do bone damage to the slender arms in his hands. "No, because Celty _hates_ how despicable you are, and knows that you're a fucked up little _tick_," Shizuo managed to grumble through his teeth, watching Izaya wince slightly as Shizuo's hands went white-knuckled with their grip on his forearms. Just before Izaya was about to spit something else out, the sound of something smashing to the ground caught their attention. Both heads turned to look at Celty, who throughout the argument had been forced to listen to them use her as a right to insult, and had gotten very angry herself, tipping the park bench over in frustration to get their attention.

She was stressed out, overworked, worried and angry, and she was _not_ about to let these two ruin the rest of her day.

Shizuo dropped Izaya's arms, "Celty, what's th—" but when he tried to move over to his friend, an unfamiliar tug on his wrist stopped him and Izaya lurched forward from an unknown force. Both looked down to find a black substance swirling around their wrists, quickly solidifying and taking the form of _handcuffs_. The surprised men looked back at Celty, who was tapping away at her PDA fiercely again, then held out her message angrily in explanation;

'You two need to learn how to _work things out_ without fighting all the time. I'm _not_ taking these off until you do.'

Shizuo and Izaya gaped at the message, unsure with how to respond. It's not like they could force her to remove them, she was immortal and most likely stronger than either of them. But they sure as hell did not want to be connected to the other. "Er, Cour—_Celty_, maybe there's some othe—" Izaya was cut off by another message;

'No! Your pointless fights need to end, and this is the only way I see that happening. Don't ask me to take them off, because I won't until you two learn how to _talk things out_.'

"What?! Celty, you know there's no way to talk to this guy seriously—"

'Learn.'

And before either man could make further objections, Celty had vanished onto her motorcycle and into the fading afternoon.

"Great. Now it's just you and me, buddy," Izaya mumbled sarcastically. Shizuo huffed, moving away from the scene and jolting Izaya from where he was standing. "This is all your fault, flea." The blond growled, not wanting to face the truth that they were both at fault. It was always easier to blame things on Izaya. Izaya scoffed, falling into step with the frustrated blond to avoid being dragged, "How is it _my_ fault? I don't _force_ you to be violent, it's your own damn choice when you pick up a vending machine and _throw_ it at someone. There's something called 'forgive and forget', maybe you should try it." The defensive tone rose in the brunette's voice as Shizuo continued to stalk through the streets at a ridiculous pace.

"It's your fault for _purposefully_ ticking me off in the first place, you damn hypocrite. Forgive and forget _what_? How you screwed up my life? Why don't you stop being an asshole, there's such a thing called _kindness_, maybe you've heard of it." Shizuo's own voice rose louder as Izaya struggled to keep up with him, caught between a jog and a walk. "You could _ignore_ me, and—okay, where the HELL are we GOING, you big _caveman_?!" Izaya shouted as Shizuo turned a sharp left, practically swinging Izaya from his wrist as the brunette complained.

"You threw a fucking _rock_ at my head, and were about to do it again if I didn't stop you, _dipshit_." Shizuo pointed out roughly. "How endearing," Izaya sneered, "but that still doesn't tell me where you think you're going, _dumbass_." Shizuo stopped suddenly, causing Izaya to be yanked backwards by the handcuffs since he was still walking. Izaya cursed and looked around to find what had stopped the blond, following the man's gaze to an apartment complex. "My apartment." Shizuo stated, practically dragging Izaya up the steps to the front door.

"I know she said to work things out, but isn't the hot make-up sex supposed come _later_ in the relationship?"

A punch to Izaya's jaw solved his talking problem, but didn't wipe the grin off of his face.

The two men trudged up the steps to Shizuo's apartment in silence, and when they reach Shizuo's door, Izaya got an expectant look from the blond. He rolled his eyes and turned around, waiting for Shizuo to enter his code and open the door. "42296," Izaya stated, walking into the apartment as Shizuo shut the door behind them. "You little flea," Shizuo reached for the coat rack by the door before Izaya spoke again.

"Relax, it's not like I'd be unable to break in without it. Besides, you want these things off as much as I do," Izaya reminded the blond, who didn't have enough space between the men to throw something anyway. Shizuo ground his teeth together while Izaya looked around the place casually, as if he _owned_ it. The brunette nodded in approval as the blond led him through a couple rooms to get to the living area, where sofas and a TV were located. "I'll admit, you've got a nicer place than I'd imagined. I mean, think of all that property damage you've caused, that's gotta be expensive," Izaya whistled to emphasize his point.

Shizuo trembled slightly in anger again, but decided he wanted to actually try Celty's method out to get the handcuffs off. The sooner he got away from Izaya, the better. "Look, _flea_, I won't go into how all those bills came from _you_, but I will try and talk shit out with you to see if these things come off," Shizuo lifted a wrist and glared at Izaya who returned with a blank gaze. Izaya fell suddenly onto the nearby vermillion couch, catching Shizuo off-guard, and causing him to tumble into a strange kneeling position in front of the couch.

"Now now, Shizu-chan, it's none of _my_ concern if you like being on your _knees_, but I suggest you sit for this." Izaya mocked, hiding his mirth behind a mask of indifference. Shizuo rose steadily from the ground, eyes covered by the fringe of blond hair, but Izaya could feel the hatred radiating from the man. "You piece of _shit_," Shizuo hissed, grabbing the front of Izaya's shirt and moving to kneel in front of Izaya who he was now pressing into the arm of the sofa, "_this_ is what causes so many _problems_. You and your damn cocky mouth—_shut up_—always saying something to set people off. You do it, and you do it on purpose—for fun, amusement, _your sick little hobby_—it's absolutely _disgusting_, which is why I _despise you and your manipulative little ways_. Wanna know why I call you flea? _Because that's what you damn well are, a fucking __**leech**__ who doesn't go away, an insect in __**everybody's**__ way, just sucking away their life and time. _

_If you want to talk, then I'll fucking __**talk**__, but don't you start your damn __**mind games**__ with me because I'll beat the shit out of you, handcuffs or not. I don't __**want**__ you in my life, don't __**need**__ you in my life, yet you keep popping up! Why __**is**__ that? Why is it that no matter how much I want to __**rip your throat out**__, knock your head __**right off your body**__ and __**destroy**__ you until no one can recognize you, I __**can't**__**fucking**__**do it**__? Why the __**hell**__ can't I get your smug face out of my __**mind**__!?_" Shizuo ended his rant; panting and red-faced, anger draining slightly from his body and his hold on the other began to loosen. Izaya smiled meekly and Shizuo realized; realized that he had just played right into Izaya's hand. The damn flea had _wanted_ him to get his side out first, and Shizuo had _done_ it. He wasn't sure whether to be impressed or pissed off.

So the blond waited for Izaya to say something, anything to fill the uncomfortable silence. "I see…Shizu-ch—_Shizuo_. Then would you like to know that I wonder the same things _myself_? I don't know _why_ I can't kill you, I don't know _why_ you're always on my mind, and I don't know _why_ I'm not _hating_ it. In fact, I don't even know what _hate_ is! I mean, if you really think about it, what _is_ hate? Just not wanting to be around someone? Feeling _anxious_ and _frustrated_ when they're near you? Is it the way your mind and heart pound with adrenaline when they _look_ at you? The way they get _under your skin_ and _into your mind_? Or is it the way they get your blood _boiling_ like _no other_? Because, Shizuo, all those symptoms are used to explain _love_ as well, and I sure as hell hope that isn't what we have because we'd _never_ work out like that," the brunette finished breathless and halfway spaced out.

The whooshing of cars outside the window that the only thing breaking their silence, a distant airplane hummed in the air and kids shouted from the sidewalk. Their eyes pierced into each other, looking for _something_ but neither was sure what. Was it mutual confusion? Because they were both confused as hell at that point, the lines of hatred and affection second-guessing each other in those split few moments before someone made the first move. Their minds screamed that there was only one way to find out, so they blamed confusion on the way their lips suddenly found each other, and the way their fists turned into open-palmed caresses in the afternoon light on Shizuo's couch.

Neither even noticed the swirling of a black mist around their forearms, too immersed in trying to get past the physical boundaries of two bodies as the restrictions around their wrists faded away with the afternoon light, dissolving into pleasure drenched nightfall.

To put it simply; from then on, Shizuo and Izaya no longer had trouble working things out.


End file.
